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About 83 Percent of W.Va. Schools Meet Guidelines, 12 Kanawha Schools,2 Putnam Schools Among Those That Failed No Child Left Behind Standards

Posted on: Tuesday, 30 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

About 83 percent of West Virginia's 715 public schools have met standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, while the remaining have been flagged as low performing, the state Department of Education announced.

In Kanawha County, 12 schools failed to make the grade. Putnam had two.

Nearly 595 public schools had no problem meeting the guidelines, an improvement over last year when 520 or 71 percent met standards in testing, graduation rates and attendance, said state schools Superintendent Steve Paine.

"The news of our high marks on the WESTEST comes as a wonderful morale booster at the beginning of the school year," he said.

No Child Left Behind established new accountability measures aimed at shrinking the gap between disadvantaged students and their peers. It requires states to set clear and high standards for what students in each grade should know, to measure student performance and to produce annual state and school district report cards reflecting adequate yearly progress.

In Kanawha County, schools failing to make the grade were Cedar Grove Community, Chandler Elementary, Marmet Elementary, Sissonville Elementary, Dunbar Intermediate, Andrew Jackson Middle, Dunbar Middle, DuPont Middle, East Bank Middle, Elkview Middle, Herbert Hoover High and Capital High. In Putnam County, failing schools were Hurricane Middle and Poca Middle.

Of the 121 low-performing schools in 2004-2005, 36 are Title I facilities that have struggled with low test scores for at least two years, and must offer students the option to transfer to another school at no cost to their parents.

In Kanawha County, three schools fall under that rule - Cedar Grove Community, Chandler Elementary and Dunbar Intermediate.

Schools that fail to make improvements for three years also must make available free tutoring, after-school help or other supplemental services. Thirty-seven schools had to offer that option in 2003-2004.

The Title I program benefits students in high-poverty areas and is awarded to schools where at least 50 percent of the student body is enrolled in the federal free and reduced lunch program.

"It is important to point out that if a school is identified as not meeting AYP, the status should not reflect on the teachers or students," Paine said. "A school can be identified for a variety of reasons and we will make certain to assist the school as it improves its student achievement levels."

Schools that object to their status as low performers can appeal, although few actually succeed.

A majority of the schools were on the improvement list for having too many special education students who scored poorly on standardized tests. Others had too many low-income or minority students who scored poorly.

"Our students with disabilities are working their way toward proficiency," Paine said. "Forty percent of schools accountable for the student with disabilities subgroup met AYP in 2005 and that is a great accomplishment."

None of the schools were found to have attendance problems, and only 1 percent did not test all of their students. Both issues had been problem areas in previous years.

Statewide, 88 percent of schools meet graduation guidelines. About 80 percent of students were proficient in reading and language arts, while about 74 percent of students were proficient in math.

"The numbers speak for themselves," Paine said.

The number of schools that must track black students dropped from 31 to 29 in 2005. And of those schools, 27 schools or 93 percent met academic standards.

About 95 percent of West Virginia residents are white, 3.2 percent are black and the rest are Hispanic, Asian or other races, according to the 2000 Census.

Source: Charleston Daily Mail

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